3 Meals a Day: That’s Really Behind It

The principle of eating 3 meals a day has been known for a long time. But you will also come across recommendations for more or fewer meals again and again. Find out here what is really behind it and how you can find out the right meal frequency for you.

The principle of 3 meals a day

Hardly any other topic is dealt with as extensively in literature and the media as nutrition. There are numerous experts, numerous different forms of nutrition and just as many different recommendations. All general recommendations and dietary instructions have one thing in common: they do not take you as an individual into account.

• The 3-meal principle originally comes from the time when the standard working day was from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Breakfast should provide you with energy for the morning, in the lunch break you fill up empty energy stores and in the evening you consume little energy because you don’t need much at night.
• The lore of eating like an emperor in the morning, like a king at noon and like a pauper at night goes in the same direction. This standard recommendation is no longer equally suitable for all people.
• With this principle, you spread your entire energy requirement of the day over just three main meals. Snacks in between are not permitted. Anything that affects insulin levels should be divided into three meals. This includes, for example, a latte, every candy and the apple for in between.
• Between the three large meals, your insulin levels stay low. Your body has time to digest the food. When little insulin is secreted, you can break down body fat during meal breaks. Ideally, there should be a break of 4-6 hours between meals.
• If you only eat a small meal in the evening, your body has digested the food relatively quickly. The energy that it needs to maintain its functions such as breathing and cardiovascular system at night must come from its fat deposits. As a result, you burn more body fat at night.

More or fewer meals are also possible

Expert opinions on this topic vary so much because there are hardly any meaningful studies. No one can recommend with certainty whether you should eat one, three, five or more meals a day. There are pros and cons for all models and in the end you have to decide for yourself which model suits you and your habits best.

• In addition to the 3 meals principle, five meals a day are also widespread. Divide your total calorie intake per day between three main meals and two smaller snacks.
• Your blood sugar level stays more constant with this meal frequency than with three or fewer meals. As a result, there are fewer food cravings and you feel less hungry. Your stomach empties more slowly because it is less stretched due to the smaller volume of food.
• With five meals a day, there is a great risk that you will quickly consume too many calories. If you choose foods with a high calorie density, it can quickly happen that you exceed your daily energy requirements and gain weight if you eat frequently.
• If you only eat once or twice a day, this strategy can help you maintain or lose weight. They trigger a spike in your insulin levels just once or twice a day. For the rest of the day, the levels of the anabolic hormone remain relatively low, allowing you to burn a lot of body fat.
• Whether you choose one, two, three, four or five meals a day is ultimately up to you. The total number of calories you have consumed at the end of the day is crucial for your weight management. If the diet does not suit your living conditions, you will find it difficult to stick to the guidelines in the long run.